


High School Never Ends

by xheartoflifex



Category: American Idol RPF, Real Person Fiction
Genre: Alternate Universe - Movie Fusion, Angst, High School, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-03-30
Updated: 2011-03-30
Packaged: 2017-10-17 09:25:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 15,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/175353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xheartoflifex/pseuds/xheartoflifex
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It was only supposed to be nine hours spent in the library with four other strangers. Little did they know it would turn into so much more than that...</p>
            </blockquote>





	High School Never Ends

__  
“I wanna run through the halls of my high school  
I wanna scream at the top of my lungs  
I just found out there's no such thing as the real world  
Just a lie you got to rise above…” – John Mayer

 __  
The date was March 19th, in sunny yet slightly chilly San Francisco, California. It was only around 6:30 AM, and the sun was just high enough in the sky to cast a glowing outline on the Nigel Fuller Performing Arts Academy for Boys. It was a pretty big school, but still small enough where everyone knew each other. The Academy was home to the best singers and actors on the west coast. The price was high, but what parents wouldn’t pay the best for their child?

On a Saturday morning like this one, the place was pretty empty, but today was a Saturday unlike any others…

“Now, Kris, do we need to go over this again?” Mrs. Allen asked, looking to her son with a smile of warning on her face.

“I can’t believe you’re making me go to this. This is ridiculous,” the young dark haired teen muttered under his breath, slumping back into the seat with his arms crossed. “You do understand that this is nine hours I could spend working on my album? Nine hours I won’t get back. You can still change your mind. Please?” he whimpered pleadingly, clasping his hands together.

“Honey, you can’t just skip class whenever you want to,” she laughed, ruffling his dark hair. “I’ll make it up to you though, I swear.”

“It was physics and I needed to spend it in the music studio to finish recording my demos! Who needs physics?! I’m going to be a star someday and won’t need to know about the laws of Franklin or Edison or Clinton or whatever…” Kris mumbled as he climbed out of the car, slamming the door behind him for extra emphasis.

Behind Kris’ mom’s Lexus, a beat up station wagon pulled up, playing loud alternative radio. “Why are you here, anyway?” Jamar asked, putting the car into park. He played with his hat in the mirror before turning back to Danny, who was laying his head back against the headrest.

Danny shrugged absentmindedly. “Oh, you know, the usual. Can you come and pick me up at 4?”

“I guess so. Just remember, I’m your boyfriend, not your chauffeur. Where are your parents, man?” Jamar asked, turning down the radio.

“J, they can’t know about this. They can’t know about any of this,” Danny said, motioning to the car and the school. Jamar frowned, turning away. “If they did…they’d kill me. I’m supposed to be perfect in their eyes. Good little church boy with the perfect voice. Boys like that don’t get Saturday detentions for smoking weed in the teacher’s bathroom…and they certainly don’t date their best friend.”

Jamar opened his mouth to say something before he gasped incredulously, a smile taking up his face. “That was you?!”

“Oh God, look at the time, gotta go!” Danny stumbled, quickly giving Jamar a peck on the cheek and jumping out of the car, finally exhaling as he walked up the stairs of the Academy.

Jamar drove away, only to have a large SUV pull up, a small boy and his father sitting inside. “Now, David. What have we learned from this?” the father asked, placing a firm grip on the small boy’s shoulder, more intimidating than comforting.

  
David looked up at him, eyes large. “D-don’t get caught cheating?”

His father smiled, patting him on the shoulder. “Exactly. The fact you did it is just another great thing about you. You’re just so dedicated to this that you’d do anything to win. But – but you’ve gotta be smart about it. I do stuff like that all the time. But I know how to cover my tracks and not end up paying for it like you are now,” his father admonished.

David swallowed, dropping his head. “Yeah, I know. Mom already told me.” He instantly regretted it as he saw the look on his father’s face change.

“Do you understand what this means? This mark will follow you everywhere! You wanna miss a chance to perform? Miss out on a scholarship because you’re some cheating singer? No record label will sign a discipline case like you,” his father snarled. Slowly, David unbuckled his seatbelt. He turned to his dad and thought about trying to defend himself or saying something in response, but eventually decided against it. He had never stood up to him before, so why start now? He sighed, climbing out of the car silently and walked up the stairs.

As Mr. Archuleta began to pull away, a tall figure dressed in a long black coat walked in front of his car, flipping him off and ignoring him from under his sunglasses and large headphones. Mr. Archuleta beeped his horn, but the boy simply kept walking until he was in the school.

Inside of the Academy’s library, which was extremely small, there were six tables set up. Kris was sitting at one of the front ones, texting furiously on his BlackBerry. Danny walked in next, sitting at the table that was directly behind him. David walked behind him, terrified of what was going to happen to him here. He had had nightmares the previous night, of these huge monstrous wrestlers that had suddenly enrolled in the Academy and were at detention and were going to eat him. Or something like that.

“Archie!” he heard a familiar voice call. He looked up, and realized that it wasn’t someone looking to eat him, but actually Kris Allen, who was in most of his classes. Kris smiled at him and waved. David let out a sigh of relief and took the seat next to him.

A few minutes later, Adam walked in, his music still blaring from his headphones. He looked over the checkout counter, pulling a few things from it and shoving them into the huge pockets of his coat. As he turned back to the tables of the library, he saw Kris and David staring at him. He growled at them before grabbing Danny by the arm, pulling him out of his seat, and pushing his toward the table across the aisle.

“That’s my table,” he said simply, as he dropped down into the chair.

David looked around the room. Why were this many tables set up if there were only four of them? Finally, in a whirlwind of movement, a tall boy in a hooded zip up black sweatshirt rushed in, unkempt hair in his face and dragging a skateboard behind him. He sat at the farthest table away, and David resisted the urge to completely turn around and look at him. He heard him unzip the sweatshirt and drop it to the floor.

“Ah, Cookie Monster. What brings a fine, fine gentleman like you here?” Adam cooed mockingkly, leaning his chair back and craning his neck back to look at the boy.

“Bite me, Lambert,” Cook grumbled, slamming his iPod down on the table.

Adam chuckled, looking forward. “Well, only if you say so. But if I recall, you weren’t really a fan of it…”

At this moment, Headmaster Cowell walked in. “Congratulations. You’ve all managed to do something right once in your bloody lives. You’re all here on time – what could you _ **possibly**_ want to ask already?” he asked, motioning to Kris’s raised hand.

“Well, I just thought that I would put it out there that I don’t think I belong here. I don’t think it’s fair that I got such a harsh punishment for such a misdemeanorish offense. And it was my first one, after all. I’m not some delinquent…” he announced, standing up in his seat.

“It is now 7:06. You have eight hours and fifty four minutes to think about why you’re here and how you can change that. Ponder the errors of your ways… And you,” he said, pointing at Adam, “will not try to sneak out of here by jumping out the window. You most of all, need this time of reflection, Mr. Lambert. You and I see too much of each other.”

Adam snorted amused. “Yeah, but you know you like it.”

Ignoring him, Cowell continued by saying “You will not talk. You will not leave. You will not sleep. Again, most of these are directed to you, Mr. Lambert. To make sure that we all stay focused on why we are here, we’re going to write a little essay. No less than a thousand words. On how you see yourselves as an artist.”

“Is this some sort of test?” Adam asked as Cowell began to hand out the papers and pencils.

“…And when I say essay, I mean an actual paper. Not some pornographic image, not a single word repeated a thousand times, nothing of the sorts. Is that clear, Adam?” Cowell asked.

Already starting to have drawn on his paper, Adam looked up and grinned. “Crystal.”

“Excellent. Maybe you’ll learn something about yourself. Maybe you’ll learn if you’ll be back or not,” Cowell added.

“Oh, I already know that I won’t be back, because I wasn’t supposed to be here in the first place,” Kris gushed enthusiastically, jumping to his feet, raising his hand.

“Sit down, Allen. And from the sounds of what I’ve been told, this is exactly where you belong.”

Spluttering, Kris slowly sank back into his seat, his mouth opening and closing like a fish. From behind him, Adam was chuckling softly.

Cowell pointed across the hall. “My office is right there. Anything out of the ordinary is ill-advised. Any questions?”

“I do.” Adam raised his hand solemnly, sitting forward in his seat with an eager look on his face.

Cowell pinched the bridge of his nose. “What?”

“Do you and Ellen DeGeneres share a closet, or is it just that you are such a big fan of what she wears?” Adam asked, keeping a straight face.

Cowell pressed his lips together in a forced smile. “Charming, really. Why don’t you come find out next Saturday detention, seeing as that is where you’ll be spending it.” With that, he walked out.

Adam scoffed, sitting up in his seat as he pulled of his black trenchcoat. “God, that man is such a douchebag.”

The room suddenly became quiet. No one spoke. No one made any movements. David stared at the paper in front of him, wondering if he should actually write the essay. He wondered if anyone else was going to write it. If he was the only one to write it, that just made him that much more of a loser.

“Who am I? Who is Danny? Danny is…” Danny was mumbling under his breath as he drummed his pencil on the table. It was already bad enough that he was here. If there was any good that could come out of it, maybe it was that he could take some work from it to show his parents. He’d never let them know under what pretenses it was written. He could show them this amazing paper he’d written about himself, so then maybe breaking the news to them about the detention and Jamar wouldn’t be as hard…

Adam made his paper into an airplane, and threw it forward, letting sail into Kris’s hair and get caught. Grumbling under his breath, Kris pulled it out and crumpled it while David tried not to laugh.

“Seriously. This is why I can’t believe I’m here,” he mumbled as he threw the crumple of paper backwards, letting it bounce onto Adam’s table.

“ _Don’t stop believing_ ,” Adam sang softly, a laugh just barely shining through. “Oh shit, he said we can’t leave. What if we have to piss?”

Kris rolled his eyes. “Please.”

“Hey, when nature calls, you gotta answer,” Adam mumbled, stretching his arms above his head. Then there was the sound of a zipper. A grin was plastered on his face.

“Oh my gosh,” David gasped, turning around in his seat, even though this was something he really didn’t want to see. It was kinda like those train wreck/car crash moments. You knew you shouldn’t watch but you just couldn’t turn away.

“You can’t be serious,” Kris muttered, covering his face with his hands and shaking his head. Danny was speechless, his mouth wide open in the shape of an ‘O’.

“Put it away, Adam. There are children here. You don’t need to mentally scar everyone you meet.”

Everyone slowly turned around in their seats to look at Cook, who didn’t even pick his head up, but continued to scribble away at the paper that was in front of him.

“Did anyone ever tell you you’re pretty sexy when you get all riled up like this, Cook? It’s hot,” Adam growled at it, smiling. But with that, he zipped his skin tight black jeans back up. Then, he turned to Danny, who was still staring at him with a wide open mouth. “Hey home skillet.”

Danny looked around to make sure that Adam was talking to him, before pointing at himself with his pen. “Me?”

“Yeah, you, dumbass. How about we close those doors over there and get kinky with the Southern belle over here,” Adam told him, nodding his head toward Kris, who was in the middle of looking horrified and blushing furiously. David watched as Kris tried to keep his composure. He had begun to fidget with the frayed hem of his t-shirt. He could see the pinkish hue that was covering his cheeks.

“Hey,” David stuttered, standing up and walking over to Adam’s table. Okay, what the heck was he doing? Since when did he become all heroic and courageous and brave? Because right now, he really wasn’t feeling it.

Slowly, Adam turned his head and looked up at David before he raised an eyebrow. An amused look graced his face. “Can I help you?” he asked, chuckling.

So this sudden rush of adrenaline was deflating, and he felt like he was shrinking. “Oh, I - uh, gosh. I just wanted to – uh - say, that - uh – wow, you are really tall,” David added as Adam stood up, towering over him. He was still smiling at him.

“You were saying?”

David opened his mouth again, which had suddenly become extremely dry. Suddenly, there was a hand on his shoulder and someone was standing in front of him. “What he was saying is that if you don’t shut your mouth and leave these guys alone, I’m gonna pound you into the floor.” Cook was standing in front of him, glaring at Adam.

“Yeah, just shut up already. Haven’t you gotten the picture that no one cares?” Kris mumbled, still looking at his hands.

“Yeah!” David added, popping up over Cook’s shoulder.

“Oh, now see what you’ve started Cook? You just had to go and get the little ones all riled up. Why are you here, anyway? Did you smile for once? Crack a joke, maybe? I mean, breaking that stony exterior could be considered the biggest crime in all the world! ”

Cook shifted his weight uncomfortably. “Uh, hey guys how about we all write our papers?” Danny piped in.

David looked back and forth from Cook to Adam. Adam stood with his arms crossed, a smirk on his face. Cook was biting on his lower lip.

“Gosh, just because you’re here all the time doesn’t mean you can be mean to everyone,” David mumbled. Where did that come from? Since when did he stand up to random strangers? He couldn’t even stand up to his own father, yet here he was standing up to Adam Lambert?

“You know, it’s a free country.”

“Archie, just ignore him. He just wants to get a rise out of you,” Kris warned, climbing out of his chair and sitting on top of the table.

“Sweetie, you couldn’t ignore me if you try,” Adam replied, looking lazily over his shoulder at Kris. He gave him a once over before turning his attention back at David. Then, a smile crept on to his face. He looked back and forth between David and Kris slowly, the smile growing with each second.

“So, are you two an item? You seem to be jumping and clawing to just defend each other? Boyfriends?” He took a step away from the two Davids and walked around the table, closer to Kris. Standing around the back, he leaned in and whispered into Kris’s ear, “Steady couple? Secret lovers? Come on, Allen, did you do the dirty yet?”

Suddenly, David realized that the warmth that had been covering the right side of his body was gone. He looked, and saw that Cook was gone, back in his seat, scratching away at the piece of paper that was in front of him. “Shut up,” David muttered, walking back to his seat.

“Go to hell,” Kris added, climbing off the table away from Adam and back to his seat.

Adam grinned. “Well, isn’t that just peachy? I ask a question, and I don’t even get an answer. You know, this party is off to a great start. But you know what would make it even better? Let’s close that door!” he exclaimed, propelling himself off the table and towards the entrance.

“Whoa, hey, I think the door is supposed to stay open,” Danny remarked, looking to the other three for more support.

“And?” Adam asked, beginning to fidget with the door jam.

“Well, he means, there are four more of us here. Heck, shouldn’t that matter?” David mumbled, which came out a bit louder than he had hoped. Kris covered his laugh up with his hand.

“The ability to count. I am so impressed. Especially from the little baby who cheated his way to win the talent competition here. Shows you don’t have to be smart to cheat your way to success…” Adam grumbled, giving a swift kick to the door.

David felt his cheeks go aflame. He was hoping that his story wouldn’t be brought up. He had hoped that no one would know about it. Now, he just felt humiliated and embarrassed. Adam turned to look at him, a grin lighting up his face. This was a perfect time for him to stand up for himself and tell Lambert off, but he couldn’t. His heart was pounding so hard in his chest.

“Who are you to judge people, anyway? Last time I checked, you weren’t without fault. In fact, you weren’t worth anything,” Cook interjected, still remaining in his seat in the back of the library.

The door slammed shut. Adam was silent for a moment, his back turned to the other four. His posture deflated momentarily, before he took a deep breath and walked back towards the tables. “Wow, Cook. Never knew you cared so deeply. Your words speak to me. Makes me want to go and become all stoic and pensive like yourself…”

David and Kris chuckled under their breaths. He turned towards them. “And after that, I’ll become happy, fun loving preps like these two.”

“You could never do that,” Kris spat shaking his head, leaning back in his chair.

Adam stopped at the front table where Kris and David were sitting. He leaned in towards Kris, smiling widely. “Your confidence in me is overwhelming, Allen.”

Kris snorted. “You know why guys like you always knock everything?”

With a roll of his eyes, Adam backed away. “’Guys like me’? Oh, this should be good.”

“It’s cause you’re afraid. You’re afraid of succeeding at something, so failure is so much easier,” Kris said softly, a weak smile on his face.

Again, the smile faltered on Adam’s face. The arms he had been propping himself up on trembled quickly before he regained his composure. “God, you’re so smart. They must’ve really taught you well down there in Redneck Country.”

David looked at Kris, who didn’t even move. The soft smile was still on his face. “The need for you to continue to insult me. It’s just reinforcement of how much of a coward you are,” he said quietly, but the harshness that he usually had in his voice was gone. David noted that there was a bit of sweetness in his voice instead now.

“Everyone thinks I’m a goodie-two shoes, but I’m not. Why else would I be here?” Danny said randomly.

“You’re just so afraid that you don’t fit in with anyone that you put on this charade of being cruel and not caring, when actually, that’s all you want. Someone to care about, and someone who cares about you,” Kris continued, watching as Adam frowned, standing up at their table.

Once Adam realized that the other four were watching him, he cleared his throat. “What could I possibly care about in a shit hole place like this one? Everyone here is a giant douchebag, and the fact that I’m different upsets everyone,” he laughed, throwing his arms up in the air.

Still remaining extremely calm, Kris got to his feet slowly, almost at eye level with Adam. “How can you call the rest of us ‘douchebags’ when you don’t even know us?”

Adam swallowed, taking a shaky breath in. “I don’t need to know you, nor do I want to know any of you.” He turned his back to Kris, and slowly began to walk toward his seat again.

“Everyone thinks I’m such a good student, but I was the one that got caught smoking pot in the bathroom,” Danny thought aloud, beginning to color his paper.

“What are you going on about, Gokey?” Adam asked after sitting down and burying his head in his arms.

Danny turned toward Adam. “Well, what I said was that I was caught smoking weed in the teacher’s bathroom, but everyone thinks that I’m like the most well-behaved kid in school. But I’m obviously not. Because. You know…” Danny said, laughing awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his neck.

“Hey Pollyanna?” Adam asked, lifting his head enough to look at Kris. “So what do you think of that? If I had supposedly gotten to know Danny over here, I’d be wrong, because he’s secretly a pot-smoking liar?”

“No I’m not!”

Kris chuckled, playing with his hair. “The fact is that you got to know him. You know the real Danny now. You can’t call him a ‘douchebag’ anymore. You can call him a pot-smoking liar if you want, but not a douchebag. You two have something in common now,” he said before turning back in his seat.

Adam opened his mouth to interject, but David sighed really loudly, causing Adam to turned to him with a raised eyebrow. “Something wrong, Princess?”

“Well, no. But I guess, yes. I mean, if you two keep talking, Mr. Cowell is going to come in here, and we’ll get in trouble again. And gosh, that's fine if you want to spend another week here, but I can’t afford to miss another weekend of practice for competitions,” David shrugged. For the first time, he actually felt right standing up to Adam. A few times before, he felt like Adam was just a few seconds away from pummeling him into the carpeting. But now, maybe it was better.

The room was silent for almost a whole minute.

“Oh dear God. A whole day of practice. That would really suck ass. But then again, why do you even need to practice? I mean, if you’ve perfected the art of cheating, then who needs practice?” Adam laughed. He got out of his seat and climbed onto the table, jumping onto the seat that was between David and Kris.

Turning towards David, he propped his head in his hand. “Have you ever thought of how your cheating hurts people? I mean, you’ve had to forfeit, but the damage is done. And sure, it was just a stupid contest, but it’s going to last forever. How do you think the person who won second place felt? Especially when they learned that you stole first place from them?” Adam mused, looking extremely pleased with himself.

David suddenly felt like he was going to be sick, and wished that he had just kept his mouth shut. He hadn’t wanted to do it. He didn’t like cheating. Cheating was dirty and wrong and just - just so bad. But his father always wanted him to win. And letting his father down was so much worse than anything the school could do to him. So David fixed the talent competition, making sure that he would come out on top, even though he knew he shouldn’t. After he sang, he couldn’t remember anything else. He could barely remember them calling his name, let alone the runner-up.

“I – I don’t know.”

Adam was grinning again. “You should talk to him. I mean, seeing as he’s in this very room. Sitting right back there.”

From that point on, David couldn’t hear anything, because his heartbeat was thrumming so loudly in his ears, blocking out all other noise. Like he was in slow motion, he looked up and behind him. Cook was looking at him, an expression on his face that was unreadable. It wasn’t a smile, but it wasn’t anger either. It was almost compassion – like understanding.

David must’ve been imagining it. Because no one could be accepting of what he did.

Especially not Cook.

“Why is this door closed?” Cowell yelled, bursting in through the double doors of the library. Nobody said anything, just looked at each other for reassurance before looking right back at Cowell.

Cowell sighed impatiently. “Why. Is. This. Door. Closed?”

“Well, technically, I don’t think any of us would be able to know how it closed on the account that we can’t move from our seats,” Adam replied smugly, with a smile and a shrug of his shoulders.

Gritting his teeth, Cowell took a deep breath and pointed deliberately at the doors. “Why?” was all he said.

“Adam told you, we were just sitting here like we were supposed to,” Kris added. The two of them looked at each other, both obviously surprised at what had just come out of Kris’s mouth.

Pointing a finger at Danny, Cowell began to walk towards him. “You. Who closed that door?”

“I – uh – well, I – uh – you know, I think it just closed on its own. Like faulty manufacturing? Like a loose screw or door jam?” By the end of the sentence, Danny’s voice had risen a complete octave, and he was close to hyperventilating as Cowell stalked closer and closer towards him.

Cowell whirled around to face Adam. “Gimme that screw, Lambert.”

His hands went up to show innocence. “What makes you think I have it? Cause I don’t.” Which was technically true. There had been no screw or door jam. Adam had just simply kicked the door until it closed.

“By God, I promise that I will yank you out of that seat and shake you until I find it,” Cowell jeered, leaning in closer to Adam, who inadvertently shrunk away from him.

“I’m telling you, I don’t have it. Screws fall out of places, the world is an imperfect place. Nothing you can do about it.”

“Lambert, give it to me,” Cowell ordered, coming in closer until their faces were mere inches apart.

Adam looked at him strangely before backing up again. “You know, I don’t really respond well to threats. Just saying.”

“Excuse me, but why would anyone want to steal a screw?” Kris asked Cowell, raising his hand as if he had been waiting to be called upon.

“Watch your tone, mister. Nobody asked what you thought,” Cowell pointed his finger in Kris’s face.

With that, Cowell walked away towards the doors and tried to prop one of them open using only a folding chair, but the door slammed shut, closing the chair inside of it. The five of them began to laugh as Cowell swore under his breath, trying to figure out a way to keep the door open.

Cowell turned to look at the group before calling out “David Cook, get over here.”

Silently, Cook got to his feet and walked to the front of the library. David half-expected that when Cook was walking by, he was going to punch him in the face and start yelling at him about the whole cheating thing. But it never happened.

“Why does he get to stand up? We should all get to stand up, then!” Adam yelled, rising to his feet.

David ignored Adam and watched as Cook easily pulled the magazine rack in front of the doors, propping it against them to hold it open.

“While that is a very, very clever idea, may I point out that if there was a fire, we’d all be trapped inside? Would you feel okay if you were responsible for all of our deaths? I think not,” Adam continued, motioning to the other three who were sitting and staring at him.

“There are fire exits,” Danny mumbled. Adam glared at him, but Cowell was unaware of all of this.

“What are you still doing? Come on, use your head! Just, just get the hell outta here!” Cowell exclaimed, shoving Cook back towards the tables. Cook was silent the whole time, even as Cowell grabbed him on the shoulder and pushed him again. “You know, Mr. Cook, I expect to see much more from a person in your situation.” David resisted the urge to turn around and look back at Cook. He wanted to know what Cowell meant by that. He wanted to apologize for everything. He wanted Cook to yell at him and tell him he hated him He just wanted some sort of reaction and for it all to end. He hated this waiting game.

“And you,” Cowell said, pointing at Adam. “You don’t fool me for a minute. You think with this innocent, misunderstood little boy act, I’m going to buy it all? The next thing to fall out here, is you.” Adam sat back down in his seat, looking a bit shocked.

Cowell turned to leave before he heard a soft “Eat my shorts” fill the room. He turned around and saw Adam, staring down at the table he was sitting at. Kris was watching him intently, while David was trying to keep as far away from him as possible.

“What was that?”

Adam sighed. He then looked up at Cowell, glaring at him strongly, his jaw set firmly. “I said, ‘Eat. My. Shorts.’ Do I need to spell it out for you?”

“Well, it’ll be nice to see you back here next Saturday, Mr. Lambert. Hope you didn’t have anything planned,” Cowell said with a grin.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” Adam muttered, rolling his eyes, leaning back in his chair.

“Another one, right there!”

“I am free until the Saturday after that, but any more and I’m gonna have to check with my day planner, so I’ll have to get back to you,” Adam snapped suddenly. David almost jumped off his chair in surprise.

“Wonderful! Because we can just keep going like this, just say the word. Are we finished yet, Adam?” Cowell prodded.

He paused for a minute, crossing his arms. “No!” Adam yelled.

Cowell was laughing at this point. “I’m doing society a favor. The only one this is hurting is yourself. So just – just keep going until you want to stop.”

“Big fucking deal,” Adam muttered, putting his combat boots up on top of the table.

“We have another one! I’ll have you until you graduate, or until your parents stop shelling out that money, whichever comes first. Wanna another one?”

“Yes!”

“You’ve got it! You’ve got it! That’s another one right there!” Cowell said, starting to clap mockingly. He was grinning at Adam, who was squirming in the chair between David and Kris.

“Stop it,” Kris said loudly, reaching out to touch Adam on the arm. Adam snapped his head to look at Kris, who drew his hand back immediately. “Just – just stop.”

“Are we done with this yet, Adam?” Cowell asked, standing there with his arms crossed, no longer smiling.

“Not even close.”

“Another one. Another one.”

“You really think I give a shit?” Adam asked, laying his head down on the table.

“And another.”

Still keeping his head down on the table, he asked, “How many is that?”

“Well, if you counted the one where he asked if you share Ellen DeGeneres' wardrobe, that would be eight,” Danny said, holding up the fingers he had been counting on. Adam shot him a death glare.

“You? Stay out of this,” Cowell snapped, pointing at Danny. He then turned back to Adam. “And you. You’re mine. For the next two months. It’s just you and me getting to know each other really well.”

Adam closed his eyes. “Oh God. I look forward to every second of it.”

“You know, maybe if you spent less time trying to impress everyone with this faulty façade, and more time trying to actually make something of yourself, you wouldn’t have any problems like this,” he said to Adam, starting to back up towards the door. “Alright, everyone. I’m going back to my office. Next time I have to come in here, for any reason, there’s going to be hell to pay.”

David could feel Adam practically shaking next to him. He watched Adam watch Cowell stalk out of the library. And he watched as Adam got to his feet and screamed at the top of his lungs the minute Cowell had walked out.

Within the next hour, time passed even more slowly. Everyone tried to amuse themselves in their own way, but it wasn’t exactly easy to do that in a library. Eventually everyone fell asleep.

The clock had just passed 10:15 when David got out of his seat and stretched, walking around the library. Adam had climbed on top of a bookshelf and was pulling handfuls of books out. He grabbed one, and flipped through the pages dramatically. Right before he yanked a permanent marker out of his back pocket and began to scribble inside of it.

“You probably shouldn’t be doing that,” David mumbled.

“I know, it’s tearing me up inside. Can’t you tell? And…” Adam closed the book to see what it was about. “And ‘Going Rogue’ is just such a moving piece of literature. I mean, what kind of monster am I?” He slammed the book shut and began to draw on the back of the book, where there was a picture of Sarah Palin.

“I read that. It was one of the funniest things I’ve ever read. And not in a good way,” Kris commented, smiling. He was sitting atop the table, cross legged and playing something on his BlackBerry.

“Did you see the special on Oprah? Oh my gosh, it was ridiculous!” David added. He began to laugh, just thinking about it. He then turned back to Adam, who had taken to ripping out pages of the book. “But seriously, it’s a piece of literature someone spent time on. Like music. It deserves some form of respect.”

Adam groaned, rolling his eyes. “Fuck, will you just shut up? Your voice is so annoying.” He threw the book at David. “Here. Have fun. Go jerk off to your respectful literature or whatever.” David felt his cheeks get red as Kris began to laugh. He heard Danny chuckling as well.

“So, Archie. You grounded tonight?” Kris asked, scooting over and motioning for him to climb on the table.

“I don’t think so. Why?”

“Well, you see, Matt and Anoop are throwing this huge party tonight. I guess Matt got accepted into some performing arts program at college. But I wanted to see if you were going,” he said.

“Yeah, I heard about that. It’s so crazy. I was thinking about going. What about you?”

“I want to. My mom told me to go, but my dad says that I’m grounded. It’s getting pretty annoying. They just use me as some sort of human pawn in their twisted divorce game. I just want it to stop,” Kris said, placing his BlackBerry on the table.

Adam looked up from what he was doing, placing another book down by his side. He looked up at Kris, suddenly having his interest peaked. “So who do you like better?” he asked.

Kris turned and looked over his shoulder at Adam. “Huh?”

Hopping off the bookcase, Adam walked over to Kris. “You like your mom better than your dad?”

“I really don’t like either of them. If I could, I would probably just go live with my friend Katy all the time. They’re both strict,” Kris said shrugging.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, there was laughing. It had started out as a soft chuckle, but began to grow louder slowly. They all turned and looked back at Cook, who was laughing and grinning to himself, obviously at what Kris had just said.

“Shut up, asswipe,” Kris scoffed, turning away from him. He began to play with his hair again.

“Kris, I mean, heck, that sounds pretty bad, but maybe you might be feeling a little sorry for yourself?” David asked before turning away from Cook, who had smiled at him before getting back to scribbling at his paper.

His face turning from one of upset to anger, Kris whirled around on the table to face David. “If I didn’t feel sorry for myself, no one else would.”

“Why does anyone need to feel sorry for you?” David asked, scratching at his head.

“Yo Milli Vanilli. You get along with your parents?” Adam asked, crossing his arms. He walked around the table to stand closer to David, who was confused. First about the nickname (who was Miller Vanilla, anyway?) and why was Adam always sticking up for Kris?

“Gosh, if I said yes, well, I’d be an idiot,” David remarked, rubbing the back of his neck. He felt a pair of eyes on him, and they weren’t from the two boys sitting on either side of him. They were coming from the back of the room.

“Well, you’re already an idiot. But if you said yes, you’d be lying too,” Adam pointed out, putting his hands up in a shrug. He backed away, going back towards his table.

“You know, I don’t know why you always feel the need to be mean to me. I’ve never done anything to you,” David said to him, causing Adam to stop.

“’Never done anything’? Kid, you don’t need to do anything. You existing is enough. Once I heard some had cheated at something as stupid as the Winter Competition, I knew it was you,” he laughed, turning back around.

“But still! I say something, and you always have some remark, even if it has nothing to do with you. The cheating thing – that’s between me and-” David stopped and his eyes momentarily flickered to Cook, who was watching him intently, a pen pressed against his lips. “That’s between me and someone else. Not you. Leave me alone.”

Adam laughed bitterly. “You are in way over your head, kid.” He took a step toward David, who instinctively took a step back. Before David could react, Adam had closed the space between them and was in his face. His hand was raised and David could suddenly see his life flashing before his eyes. He prepared himself to die.

And then nothing happened.

“Let go of me, Cook,” Adam grunted. David opened his eyes and watched as Cook pulled Adam backward in a chokehold.

“Not until you apologize for insulting him,” Cook said through gritted teeth, yanking him backwards again. “Apologize!”

“What the- Cook! You should be thanking me for this! You should be cheering me on as I punch the kid!” Adam exclaimed in shock. As much as David didn’t want to admit it, Adam was right. If anyone should get a free swing at David, it should be Cook.

But instead, Cook was dragging Adam away from David. “Insulting people is not cool! You can’t just do that to whoever you want! Now…apologize!” Cook muttered.

“I’m being honest! You of all people should understand this!” Adam yelled.

“He has a name. A real one. You could at least be respectful and call him by his real name.”

Adam stayed still for a moment before David pulled the grip tighter. “Okay! I’m sorry – David.”

As Cook smiled and let go of Adam, David tried to thank him, but all that came out was a squeak of air, so he just stopped and walked back to his seat, trying to forget about everything and not count the minutes until this was over.

“What’s my real name? And not Allen,” Kris asked Adam, a strange look gracing his face.

Adam’s expression soon mirrored Kris’s. “What is this, 20 questions? I don’t know,” Adam replied, throwing his hands up in the air as he sat back in his chair.

“It’s Kris.”

“Krass?” Adam laughed, leaning forward to be closer to Kris, who was still sitting on top of the table.

“No, Kris. It’s a family name.”

“Well, I think it’s a homo’s name,” Adam stated sharply. He smiled, and the smile Kris had on his face was quickly erased.

“Wow. Thanks,” he mumbled, climbing off his table and into his chair.

“No problem. Always glad to help.” He laughed and leaned in even closer to Kris, who had his back to Adam, like he was waiting for a reaction.

“I’m not gay,” Kris spat, spinning around in his seat. His brow was furrowed in something like anger. His face was slightly flushed.

“Well, it’s probably just because you’re in denial. You know, with your flannel shirt and t-shirt, and jeans so tight so everything looks just so…seems pretty gay to me,” Adam replied, making motions to Kris’s clothes. Kris dropped his head, but quickly gave Adam the finger. He sniffled, not lifting his head and looking at Adam, who had begun to laugh. “Wow, such obscene gestures from the good little Southie.”

“Just because I’m from the South doesn’t mean that’s the only thing that defines me! Not all people from the South are the same!” Kris yelled, looking up at Adam.

Adam got out of his seat and walked over to Kris, kneeling down next to his seat. He was grinning when he asked, “Are you a virgin? I’ll bet you a million dollars that you are. That it’s going to be a white wedding…” he asked, moving in closer toward Kris’s ear and whispering.

“Just shut up,” Kris said, his voice starting to shake. He stared at Adam, his eyes hard and cold.

“Have you ever been kissed on the mouth? Felt someone up?” He took his hand and teasingly placed it on Kris’s knee, slowly moving it upward. Kris’s breath hitched as he shut his eyes. “You know? Down the jeans, under the waistband, hoping to God that no one opens the bedroom door?” His hand stopped halfway up Kris’s thigh.

“Will you just shut up?” Kris said, his voice barely above a whisper.

“Take off her bra, under the shirt, watching as she curls up in a ball on your bed once she realizes that you, indeed, are gay?” Adam asked, finally pulling his hand off of Kris, who was practically trembling now. He began to laugh.

“Leave him alone.”

David’s head snapped up. He like always, had wanted to say something to Adam, but knew that it would be the last words he ever spoke. So he didn’t and simply watched his friend become close to the verge of tears.

“What?” Adam said, standing up, his face in disbelief.

Danny got to his feet. “I said – leave him alone.”

A look of intrigue washing over Adam’s face, he took a step closer to Danny. “And why does this affect you, in any way?”

“Because. So what if he is gay? Why should that matter to you? You still can’t be jerk to him,” Danny pointed out, hoping to God that nobody figured out why he was doing this. He hadn’t even told his parents about Jamar yet, so having to tell these four would be the bottom of the list of people to tell.

Adam looked confused for a moment, before a look of realization came to him like a revelation. His face lit up. “Oh! I get it. You see this as a crusade for your cause, am I right? Help him, and maybe you won’t be so guilty in the eyes of God, or whatever?”

The other three were all still looking at him, puzzled expressions on their faces. “I don’t – you don’t – no, that’s not true,” Danny spluttered, suddenly feeling the adrenaline he had gotten rushing out of him.

“What’s his name, Gokey?” Adam sneered.

“Who?” Danny asked, feeling like he was drowning. This couldn’t be happening. It couldn’t, it wasn’t.

“Your boyfriend.”

The other three’s expressions changed from ones of confusion to ones of shock. He looked at them shifting his weight uncomfortably back and forth from foot to foot.

“No way,” David whispered incredulously. “Is it true?”

Danny sighed. He was horrible at lying. He could either try to lie, get caught, and then have to tell the truth. Or, he could just tell the truth outright. “It’s Jamar,” he said simply before sitting back down, covering his head with his arms. He was felt like his head was going to explode. He had just come out to complete strangers before his parents.

The room was silent. And it stayed that way. Nobody said anything. Not even Adam, who had eventually dropped his head in what seemed like shame and shuffled back to his seat to sit.

_ _ _

When Cowell entered the room a little while later, no one had spoken. Danny was still covering his head, as if he was trying to curl into himself and disappear. Cook had gotten up had taken blank notebooks from the reception area and continued to scribble away in them. Kris and David had stayed silent, not speaking to each other and staring ahead into the room, while Adam fallen asleep.

“Alright, ladies. It’s now noon. You have thirty minutes for lunch. Any questions?” he asked.

David looked around the room, before looking back at Cowell. “Wait, you mean here?”

“Yes, here. Where else?”

“Well, I just thought that maybe the cafeteria would be a much more suitable place to eat,” David responded. He needed to get out of this room. If felt like the walls were starting to close in on him, and if he got to the cafeteria, he could sit as far away from these four as he could.

“Well, I don’t give a shit what you think, Mr. Archuleta. You’re eating here,” Cowell barked.

Adam raised his hand. “Uh, excuse me, Simon? Can I call you that? Will there be milk made available for us?” David turned around to look at Adam, wondering what he was up to. The milk here was nasty, so why would he want to drink it? Adam just raised his eyebrows, and David got the point.

“Oh, uh, yes, we’re very thirsty,” David supported.

“I’m feeling slightly dehydrated. I need something to drink,” Kris added, placing a hand onto his forehead for extra drama.

Adam got to his feet. “Everything will be okay. I’ll go get it. Just relax,” he said, a smile coming onto his face.

“Sit your ass back in that chair, Lambert,” Cowell snapped, pointing back at Adam’s seat. “You think I was born yesterday? I’m not letting you roam these halls alone. You,” he said, pointing to David. He paused for a moment, looking between Danny, Kris and Cook. David was pointing to Kris, who was starting to sit forward. “And you,” he said, pointing in the back of the room to Cook.

He looked up, confused. “Yeah, you. There’s a soft drink machine in the teacher’s lounge. Go down there and come right back,” Cowell muttered before walking out.

David got out of his seat, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck standing up. He wasn’t exactly sure why he was feeling so anxious, but the fact that Cook was following him out wasn’t helping. As the two of them walked through the hallways, Cook right behind David, David turned to Cook and stopped. “Look, I need to say something before I feel like I’m going to explode. I just hope you’ll listen and not kill me. I’m sorry about what happened. I didn’t know it was you. It wouldn’t have mattered if it was you though, if you’re thinking that. I didn’t know what I was doing, so I couldn’t stop myself. And then after I did it, I wanted to take it all back, but I couldn’t. So I’m sorry,” he babbled, feeling like his head was spinning.

Cook was leaning against the wall, a smirk on his face and his arms crossed. “Okay. Cool.” He then walked forward.

“That’s it? You don’t want to hurt me or yell at me or string me up the flag pole?” David asked, his voice quivering.

With a laugh, Cook smiled. “No, not really. Unless you want me to. But even if you did, I don’t think I would. What I really want to know is why you did it?”

He felt his heart stop. Cook wouldn’t understand. No one would understand. He had promised himself that no one could ever know. So he was going to have to lie. “Well, uh, my parents, they treat me special because they know I’m going to be a star. But it’s not because I wanna be one. It’s only because I have the skills. But I can’t tell them that. So I just got caught in something that was complicated and ugly,” David stammered, hoping that Cook would buy it.

The smile disappeared from Cook’s face. His expression changed. “Though that is a very interesting story, you could tell me the real reason to why you did it. I think I deserve that much.” He stepped around David and continued walking do the hallway. David sighed, watching him walk away.

It was all worth it… _right?_

Back in the library, Kris, Adam and Danny were gathered around one of the front tables waiting. Adam had taken his place back atop one of the bookshelves, and was flipping through the pages of a book, although this time it was without a Sharpie.

“Yo Kris, you wanna see a picture of a guy with elephantitis of the balls? It’s a pretty sick picture. I think you’d go for him.” Adam looked over the top of the book at Kris, who rolled his eyes.

“No, thank you.”

Adam dropped the book. “You know, how do you think he rides a bike? It’d have to be pretty difficult,” He clasped his hands together, as if he were pondering the image. “Kris, would you ever consider dating a man like this?” Adam continued, still managing to keep a straight face.

“Can’t you just leave me alone?” Kris asked, so sick of everything.

Ignoring Kris’s last comment, Adam pursued in the conversation. “What if he had a great personality, though? He could have a great personality, have a job, even have a great car? You would have to ride in the back because his dick would ride shotgun. But you wouldn’t date him?” Adam asked, smiling. Kris shot him a look, causing Adam to put up his hands as a show of innocence. “Oh, that’s right, I forgot, you’re not gay.” Kris ignored him, which was somewhat difficult, but found it even harder to ignore the blush that was creeping into his cheeks.

Later, once David and Cook had returned, with five Cokes and a new wave of tension and awkwardness, everyone had sat down to eat their lunches. Adam took the seat between Kris and David once again. He looked at Kris, who was pulling a black box out of small shopping bag, followed by a black circular container.

“What’s that?” he asked, disgust showing through his voice.

“Guess, where’s your lunch?” Kris answered, putting the black containers down and dropping the bag onto the floor.

Pausing, Adam smirked. “In your jeans.”

“You’re disgusting,” Kris replied, trying not to pay any attention to him as Adam grabbed a can of Coke and threw it over his head to Cook, who grabbed it, and popped it open.

As Kris set up his sushi platter, Adam stared at it intently. “What is that?”

“It’s sushi. Raw fish, rice, and seaweed,” Kris said with a smile, motion at the food with one of the chopsticks he had.

Adam made a face. “So you get grossed out at the thought of kissing a guy, but you’re going to put that in your mouth?”

Trying not to laugh, Kris made an annoyed face. “Yes. Can I eat now?”

“I don’t know. Give it a try. Let me know how it goes,” Adam replied, backing away from the sushi container. He turned to look at David, who was pulling food out of a grocery bag. Out came a gallon of water, a whole loaf of multigrain bread, a bag full of chopped vegetable and fruits. He realized that Adam was looking at him.

“What?” David asked innocently.

“Do you own stock at a health food store?” Adam asked, motioning to all the food.

“Uh, no. It’s been noted that water, wheat bread, and a balance of fruits and veggies is perfect for the vocal cords and keeping them well-maintained. My parents like to keep me on a healthy diet that keeps my voice in perfect shape,” David said, hanging his head.

“I’m sorry, is it just the diet they keep you on, or a leash as well?” Adam asked, cocking his head.

“My parents are no different than anyone else’s. They just want the best for me. I mean, gosh, what parent doesn’t? I mean, it’s not like I enjoy it, but I have to deal with it.”

Adam laughed. “Archie, Archie, Archie. You are a parent’s wet dream. Those parents of yours are practically waiting for you to make it big so they can pull a Gary Coleman on you and steal all your money. You’re their prize stallion. And here, you may think that you’re like everyone else, but you don’t know that. Everyone just sees you as the poser who is willing to step on people and claw your way to get to the top.” He snorted and rolled his eyes in disgust, pushing himself away from the table.

David realized his hands were shaking. He dropped the pear he had in his hand. “So what about you then? What’s your story?” Adam cocked his head. No one had ever bothered to ask him about his life…ever. And considering everything he had been through, there was a lot to talk about. But no one had ever bothered to just say to him _**‘What the hell is up with you?’**_ No one ever cared enough.

He opened his mouth, but his voice faltered. He quickly cleared his throat, hoping to mask the vulnerability that may have shown through. “My story? Well, that’s real easy. It started about when I was twelve, and I came out to my parents. By doing so, I ruined their image of having a picture perfect family, so I was then deemed the black sheep of the family. Then, my little brother Neil, such a big mouth on that kid, decided that everyone in our middle school needed to know about my secret. So, if you think being gay in high school is hard, Gokey, try doing it in middle school. With the entire school knowing. My parents didn’t care when I came home beat up from school every day. They didn’t care when my teacher’s sent home notes saying that everything I had at school was being vandalized. So we…no, wait, I forced us to move to California and start over new,” Adam finished, the over four staring at him with open mouths.

“Is – is – wait, why have you never told anyone?” Danny asked softly, playing with his glasses.

“Well, there’s about 500 kids back in Indiana who know, so why torture myself even more by telling more complete strangers?”

“I don’t believe any of it,” David said, his voice shaking. He turned to Adam. “You tell me I have a horrible life, but I don’t believe it. You go on about this horrible terrible lifestyle that has turned you into a monster. That story is just part of your image. Your life is no more horrible than mine, but it’s just because you use it as an excuse to be mean to people.”

Adam raised an eyebrow. “You don’t believe me?” David shook his head. Adam walked closed to him. “You want to see the scars from when the high school kids would hold me down and burn me with lighters? You want to read all the notes that I got? I still keep them. Just come over any time, pretty boy,” he remarked, coming in closer to David, who reeled away.

“See, I don’t need to sit here with you fucking douchebags any more,” he said, walking backwards away from David, away from the tables. In the back of the library was a map table. Adam sideswiped all of the maps from the table and jumped onto it before launching himself onto the upper level. He hung his legs off of the staircase, placing his head on the banister.

The other four looked to him before turning back to each other. Kris turned towards David. “Why did you do that?”

David couldn’t speak. His voice trembled, so he just kept his mouth shut. Which was what he should’ve done from the start.

_ _ _

Adam watched Cowell walk through the hall and slip into the faculty lounge before motioning to the others to follow him. Kris fell into step next to Adam, with Danny and David behind them, and Cook bringing up the rear.

“Where are we going?” Danny asked David. “I mean, what’s the point in going to Adam’s locker? What if we just get caught again? It’ll be today all over again! I can’t do this again,” he babbled uncontrollably.

David turned to him. “Danny, I don’t know. And if you ask me one more question, I’m going to hit you.” He felt so frustrated. All he had wanted to do was come here and get through it. Never in a million years did he think that he would have to face the kid he had cheated out of first place. And what made it worse was that Cook saw right through him.

“How do you know where Cowell went?” Kris asked Adam, jogging right alongside him.

Adam turned to him with a sly smile. “I don’t.”

“Then how do you know when he’ll be back?” Kris continued.

They stopped at a locker that had large amount of black marked scribbled across it. Adam laughed. “I don’t. Being bad. It feels pretty good, doesn’t it?” He opened the door with a bang and began to shuffle through the contents of it. Papers, CDs, empty food wrappers, and pictures began to fall out. Adam left them on the ground as he continued to look through his locker. “Holy shit,” Danny muttered, looking into the locker. “Your locker is messier than my entire house.

“Aha!” Adam exclaimed, grabbing a small bag. “Well, what can I say? My maid’s on vacation.” He held onto the bag and slammed the locker door shut.

Gokey stared at the bag with a wide open mouth. “Is that what I think it is?”

“Oh, yeah. Ha, nice little reunion here for you two,” Adam laughed, holding the bag out towards Danny. Danny shrank away.

“Weed?” Kris asked, more curious than shocked. Danny nodded before Adam could respond.

“Uh, gosh, I like to have fun as much as the next guy, but don’t you think that maybe this is crossing a line?” David squeaked, raising a hand meekly. At this point, Adam has started to walk away, followed by Kris. Danny sighed, and followed slowly behind. David felts a hand on his shoulder give a squeeze before he saw Cook pass him.

“Alright, we’re going cross through the lab, and then double back,” Adam said, motioning down a hallway. Down the hallway, however, was Cowell. When Adam saw him, he froze immediately, backtracking and going in the opposite direction.

“We’re going to have to cut through the cafeteria,” Adam said, leading the group around the school.

“But wouldn’t it just be easier to go through the activity court? That would lead us right to senior hallway, and then to the library?” David asked, trying to run closer to Adam.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Adam scoffed, ignoring him and continuing to run the same way.

“I really think that that would be the best way to go. It would bring us right back…” David persisted. Everyone else stopped, including Adam. “We’re done listening to you,” David said, running in the opposite direction.

Everyone followed David, with him leading the way right to activity hall and right into an iron gate closing off the hallway.

“What the heck!” David exclaimed, grabbing onto the iron gate and shaking it. Not only did he feel like a completely moron, but now they were all going to get in trouble and it was just because he couldn’t keep his mouth shut.

“Awesome idea, Columbus,” Adam muttered, hanging in the back of the five of them.

“Why the fuck didn’t you listen to Adam?” Kris asked David, his voice sharp and angry.

Danny looked around the hallway. “We’re all going to die.”

With a sigh, Adam pulled the small bag out of his pocket. “No. Just me,” he mumbled. He grabbed onto Kris’s arm and pulled him close. Looking him deeply in the eye, he said, “Guard this with your life, okay?” Kris nodded and started to reach his hand out to grab it, but instead, the waistband of his jeans was pulled on by Adam and the bag was shoved inside.

Kris squeaked as Adam let go of him. He knew he should be disgusted and ashamed and just morally horrified that a man’s hand (and a strange one at that) had just been down his pants. But the warmth that was spreading over his cheeks was telling him a different story.

He looked up at watched as Adam ran down the hallway, singing _**“I want your love and I want your revenge. You and me could write a bad romance.”**_ Before he could realize what he was doing, his hand slipped out and was lingering over the spot on his arm where Adam had grabbed him. It wasn’t until he heard David shouting at him to run that he realized what he was actually doing.  
Back in the library, the four of them took their respective seats, each silent. Soon after, Adam entered being pushed in by Cowell. He tried to shrug out of Cowell’s grasp, but Cowell held the grip firmly.

“Let’s go. Grab your things,” he ordered, shoving Adam towards his seat. “Mr. Smartass has taken it upon himself to take a field trip to the gymnasium and play a little basketball. So, I am sorry to inform all of you that you will be without his services for the rest of the day.”

“Boo fucking hoo,” Adam muttered, grabbing his coat, scarf and gloves. He threw them over his shoulder, and turned back towards Cowell who was standing there with a frown on his face.

“Everything’s just a big joke to you, isn’t it? That false alarm you pulled Friday, really funny, huh? What if it was your house, what if it was your family…what if it was your pot that was on fire?” Cowell argued, walking in closed to Adam.

Adam only laughed bitterly. “Impossible. It couldn’t catch on fire because it’s residing in Allen’s jeans.”

Kris looked horrified at this, trying desperately not to look down at his own jeans. Danny laughed as he noticed this. As Cowell heard this, he spun on his heel and glared at Danny.

“You think that’s funny? You think he’s clever and cute? But you wanna hear something real funny? Look at him, he’s a loser,” Cowell said, motioning to Adam. “Go visit Adam Lambert in five years, and see how funny he is. You think you’re going to be some glamorous artist with your wonderful voice and everything. But the only reason why you’re here is because your parents never want to see your ugly face.”

The smile slipped off of Adam’s face. He frowned, his posture deflating immediately. “What’s the matter, Lambert? Gonna cry?” Cowell laughed. “Let’s go.” He grabbed onto Adam’s shoulder, pulling him along.

Spinning out of the touch, Adam pulled away. “Keep your fucking hands off of me. I expect better manners from you.” He walked in front of Cowell, who directed him towards the nearby storage closet

Once inside, Adam was shoved onto the ground by Cowell. “That’s the last time, Adam. That’s the last time you ever make me look bad. I make almost $100,000 a year. I have a nice house and I’m not about to throw it all away on a punk like you. But someday, someday, when you’re out of here and you’ve forgotten all about this place and you’re trapped in your horrible, pathetic life, I’ll be there. I’ll be waiting and watching, and I’ll kick the living shit out of you,” he said with a smile.

“Are you threatening me?” Adam asked, shrinking away in shock. He stared at Cowell, looking him up and down.

Cowell crouched down, staring at Adam eye to eye. “You think any one would believe you? Seriously, who would take your word over mine? I’m the man of respect around here. They love me. You – you’re a lying sack of shit. You think you’re a real tough guy? Come on, come on, get to your feet. I wanna see how tough you really are! I’ll even give you the first punch! Please, I’m begging you! Just one swing, that’s all I’m asking!” Cowell said, jutting his cheek out towards Adam Adam simply stared at him.

Cowell faked a punch, in which Adam flinched away from. “That’s what I thought. You’re nothing but a worthless piece of shit,” he mumbled before walking out of the closet and locking the door behind him.

Adam sighed, rubbing his face with his hands. Being locked in a closet didn’t exactly make his day, and he couldn’t figure out a way to get out. But when he looked above him he smiled. Yeah, that would definitely work.

In the library, the others were sitting and talking with each other at the tables. Suddenly, a large crash came from the back of library as one of the ceiling tiles fell through, along with Adam. All four of them stared at him as he walked down the stairs. When he reached the bottom, he shrugged as if it were nothing. “What? I forgot my pencil?”

“What the hell was that?” Cowell yelled, running into the library. Adam looked around quickly before diving underneath the table where Kris and David were sitting.

“What’s wrong?” Danny asked, trying not to look terrified.

“I was just in my office and I heard a ruckus!”

“Could you, uh, describe the ruckus, sir?” David asked, leaning forward.

“Watch your tongue, young man,” Cowell said, pointing at him. As he did, Adam attempted to make himself more comfortable under the table, but in the process whacked his head on the table, causing a loud noise. To cover it up, David began to drum on the table.

“What is that? What was that? What was that noise?” Cowell snapped. As Adam readjusted himself under the table, he saw what he was at eye level with.

Out of nowhere, Kris squealed, shuddering and closing his eyes. David looked at him, but soon enough, Kris began to cough. Cook and Danny had joined in as well.

Kris cleared his throat. “Was that it? Was that the noise you heard, because if it was, I am so sorry? I’m getting a bit of a tickle in my throat.”

With a scowl on his face, Cowell crossed his arms. “No, it wasn’t. It was not the noise I was talking about. You may have gotten away with it this time, but be aware to the fact that I’m on to you. I’m on to all of you.” From the back of the room, Cook was chuckling, leaning back in his seat. Cowell opened his mouth to say something, but instead turned around and left.

Everyone started to laugh except for Kris, who closed his eyes and pushed away from the table to let Adam out. As Adam climbed out from under the table, Kris began to hit him.

Adam kneeled there for a moment, a smirk on his face. “What? It was an accident.”

“An accident? Oh, yeah, a total accident your hand managed to get a hold of my dick,” Kris growled.

Getting to his feet, Adam shrugged. “Sue me.” He started to walk away, but then stopped and turned back around. “Oh, gimme my bag,” he ordered, holding out a hand and wiggling his fingers.

Slowly, Kris unzipped his jeans and pulled out the bag. He rolled his eyes as he dropped the bag into Adam’s hand. Waggling his eyebrows, Adam clasped his hand around it and walked away.

Later, Cook, David and Danny were sitting together on the couch in the back. David flipped the card the Danny had handed him over and over in his hands. “This is seriously the worst fake ID I have ever seen. Why do you need one, anyway?”

“I don’t know why I have one, Jamar got it for me, but I haven’t used it,” Danny laughed.

“You do realize that this says you’re a woman,” David pointed out, handing it back to Danny.

Cook looked back and forth between them. “You want to see what’s in my backpack?”

“No!” they both chorused, but before they could, David had grabbed his backpack and dumped it out on the couch. Out came various CDs, papers, coins, video games, and food wrappers.

Danny and David both stared at the pile. “What the hell is all this stuff?” Danny asked.

“I always carry this much stuff. You never know when you’re going to be in a jam and have to make a run for it,” he replied.

“Why would you want to run away? What do you do anything?”

“My home life is unsatisfying,” Cook responded tersely.

David looked up at him. This was the most he had ever heard him say, and it was pretty eye-opening. “Well, everyone’s home life is. If it wasn’t then we’d live with our parents forever,” David joked, looking at Cook.

The two of them met each other’s gaze. Cook stopped, frowning. He felt like David could see into what he was trying to hide. But it’s not like it would be difficult. Cook was able see right through David ‘s façade of being a happy show pony. So how could Cook expect his exterior to protect him?

“Just forget it,” Cook whispered, shoveling his items back into his backpack. Better not to talk about it than to let someone in. Letting someone in was just a recipe for disaster.

“Wait, what’s wrong?” David questioned, his tone changing. He sat forward in his seat, watching Cook’s hands as they grabbed the items and dropped them into his backpack.

“Leave me alone.” Cook zipped up his backpack and threw it over his shoulder, stomping away from Danny and David.

Danny looked to David. “He’s such a mental case. No wonder why he’s here,” he muttered. David sighed before getting up and following Cook, who was leaning against a bookcase taking deep breaths. He held his backpack against his chest, his whole body shaking.

“You wanna talk?” David asked, leaning against the bookcase alongside Cook.

Shaking his head, Cook turned away from David. “Just go away,” he pleaded.

“Where should I go?”

“I don’t care. Just go away,” Cook muttered, dropping his backpack on the floor. A few moments of silence passed between them before Cook whirled around, an expression of rage on his face. “You know, you think you can help me with my problems? You have too many of your own!”

Confused, David took a step forward. “How do I have problems?” The tone of his voice had just changed from one to concern to anger, even if he hadn’t meant for it to.

“You do everything that everyone else wants you to do, but when do you ever do what you want? That’s a problem!” Cook shouted.

David took a deep breath. “Yeah, I have problems. But you know what? I didn’t just dump my bag out on the couch and invite you into my problems.”

Slowly, Cook’s posture deflated. “Yes you did. The minute that you cheated me out of first place,” he mumbled, turning back to David.

With a sigh, David realized that he was right. “So what is it? Is it really bad? Is it at home?” David asked.

Nodding, Cook turned to him, a tear slowly tracking down his cheek. “My little brother, Adam. He’s dying. And – and my parents, they try to help me, and I try to understand, but – but it’s just so hard sometimes.”

“Yeah…yeah,” David remarked. He couldn’t figure out why, but he found himself crying as well.

In the other corner of the library, Adam was flipping through a notebook of Kris’s. Each page held a song with lyrics that Kris had wrote, but none had been completed yet. Meanwhile, Kris was looking through a booklet of photos of boys that Adam kept in his back pocket.

“Are all of these your boyfriends?” Kris asked, tracing a finger over one of the pictures.

Adam looked up and at the picture before looking back at the notebook. “Some of them…”

“And the others?” Kris laughed.

“Some I consider my boyfriends, some I just consider,” Adam explained, putting the notebook back in his lap.

Kris raised an eyebrow. “So you don’t believe in taking it slow with only one person?”

Looking up from the notebook to meet Kris’s eyes, Adam asked, “Do you?”

“Well, yeah, that’s the way it should be,” he shrugged.

After closing the notebook, Adam gave a wave of his hand while making a face. “Not for me.”

“Why not?” Kris continued, no longer paying any attention to the booklet of pictures.

Adam groaned. How did this kid always know how to get under his skin and automatically know exactly what to ask? Adam had always tried to keep everything about his life so well hidden, and he had done a pretty good job of it for the past few years. But he’d only known Kris Allen for about six hours, and he knew more about Adam than his own family did.

“Why haven’t you finished a song yet?” Adam asked defiantly, motioning to the notebook.

“I don’t really know. None of them have been the one, you know? The one that makes you know that ‘this is it’? The one that I have to spend all my time with because it’s just that good. You get it? ” Kris chuckled, smiling as he pulled his knees up against his chest.

Dropping his head against his chest, Adam sighed. He swallowed, wanting the dryness in his mouth to go away. Finally, he looked up and met Kris’s eyes. They just stayed that way for a few moments.

“Yeah. I do.”

_ _ _

“I mean, we’re all pretty bizarre. Some of us are just better at hiding it, that’s all,” David said to Kris, who was adamant in the fact that he still hadn’t done anything wrong. The five of them had moved up to the second level of the library and were sitting in a circle.

Kris crossed his arms. “So how exactly are you ‘bizarre’?” he asked, making air quotations around the word bizarre.

Before David had the chance to say anything, Cook replied for him, saying “He can’t think for himself.” David turned to him and gave a small smile before turning back to Kris. This was it. He was going to have to live up to everything and admit to it all.

“You guys obviously know what I did to get here. You’ve all heard. But the fact is, is that I never wanted to do it. I sing because I like to. I enjoy the rush I get from being on stage,” he started. Everyone chuckled softly.

Slwoly, David’s expression darkened as his face fell. “But it’s never good enough for my dad. My dad won’t settle for anything less the best. So whenever he hears of a chance to win a competition, it’s always ‘David, you’ve got to be number one!’ or ‘David, there’s no such thing as second place!’”

“The week before this past competition, I was just so tired and drained, and I hadn’t practiced for anything. I was thinking about not even showing up. But then the day before, all I could hear in my head was my father and him telling me that he doesn’t accept quitters. He doesn’t accept losers. The next thing I remember was I was screwing with the audio and fixing the scores of the judges. Everything just – it just became so hazy. When I won, it didn’t even matter, because all I could think of was my dad. And how I had just added to the mindless machine that he is, feeding his crazed insanity. Sometimes, I just want it all to stop, maybe give up on singing…” David trailed off. He saw that all of them were staring at him. Quickly he wiped the tears from his cheeks and tried to regain his composure.

Danny sat up and fixed his glasses. “Um, I don’t know if I’m the only one thinking this, but what happens on Monday? We’re all going to be together again, but I mean, what’s gonna happen?”

“Like if we’re still friends or not?” Kris prodded, playing with a thread on his sleeve.

“Yeah.”

Kris sighed. “To be truthful, I don’t think so.” He dropped his hands into his lap and began to wring them.

“You mean with all of us or just Adam?” Cook asked softly, crossing his arms.

“Any of you,” Kris muttered, looking away from the harsh stares he was getting. “I mean, be honest! We come from different places in this school. We’re not meant to be friends! David and I are in the cool clique, Danny’s a goody-goody, Adam’s a deadbeat, and Cook marches to his own drummer! Those are groups that should never mesh!” he cried, his voice growing in volume. Danny wasn’t making eye contact with him, Cook was glaring at him, David was very interested in one of his shoelaces, and Adam wouldn’t look at him.

“So what if I broke your so-called rule and came up to you on Monday?” Cook said.

“I’d say hi and then once you were gone, I’d rip you apart with all my friends, just to make sure they didn’t think that I actually liked you,” Kris pointed out. Maybe it came out a little too easily, but that was the truth. He knew it would’ve happened.

“My god, you are such a little bitch,” Adam chuckled, shaking his head in disbelief. “You…”

“Why?! Cause I tell him the truth? That makes me a bitch?” Kris argued back, his cheeks flushing in anger.

“No, because you of all people know how shitty that feels, and you don’t have the balls to stand up to your pathetic friends and tell them that you’re going to be friends with you want to!” he bellowed back. The other three simply watched, letting it slowly sink in as to why these two went back and forth from defending each other to practically ripping each other’s throats out.

Kris laughed bitterly. “What about you, you hypocrite? Let’s see you take Cook to one of your parties this weekend. Take Danny out into the parking lot to get drunk during study period. And David – or me? What about me? What if your friends saw you and I together? They’d laugh their asses off, and you’d have to tell them we were doing it for them to stop.”

His voice low and practically in a growl, Adam leaned forward. “You don’t talk about my friends. You don’t know them, and you would never try to get to know them, so just leave them out of your thoughts. And as for you and I being seen together in school, you can forget about it because it’s never going to happen.”

“I hate you, so much,” Kris grumbled angrily, placing his head into his hands and tugging at his tufts of hair.

“Yeah? Good,” Adam spat back, baring his teeth.

“So I guess Cook and I are better than the rest of you? Us loners?” Danny started before turning towards Cook. “Would you do that to me?”

Cook laughed brightly. “I doubt Jason or MJ would mind some extra company. No, I wouldn’t.”

Danny smiled at him. “I just wanna tell you three…I’d never do that to you. Cause I think that’s real shitty.”

Sniffling, Kris wiped his eyes. “Your guys’ friends wouldn’t care. They look up to us.”

Out of nowhere, Cook began to laugh. “You’re so full of yourself…why, why are you like that?”

“I don’t do this to try and be full of myself or to be conceited! It’s –it’s just, you don’t understand the pressure. You’re not friends with the same kinds of people that David and I are!”

Cook froze, his mouth open just enough to let out a strangled laugh. He should’ve realized that it was going to come out sooner or later. He had been hoping for later or maybe even not at all, but it seemed unavoidable now…

“You’re saying that I don’t understand pressure? Fuck you,” he called out. He covered his face with his hands, hoping to mask the fact that he was crying now. “I never told you why I was stuck here. I’m here because Mr. Cowell found me with a knife.”

Suddenly, the air in the room became still, as if everyone had stopped breathing. Cook buried his head into his elbows, just wanting to curl up into a ball and disappear. He felt everyone’s eyes on him.

A hand pressed down softly onto his shoulder. “Why was it there?” Pulling his head out from his arms, Cook looked up at David. Before he could stop himself, the truth was spilling out.

“He needs them more than I do. I try to tell them, I do. They need to help him instead of me. But they don’t listen. They’re all he has, and I’m just getting in the way… Without me around, they’re be more money, more attention, more everything for him. Adam needs to get better, and I’m not helping…” Cook whispered, staring at his palm, tracing the lines of it with his other fingers.

“Oh Cook,” Kris whispered, almost beginning to reach out to him. “You can’t kill yourself over that.”

Cook jerked his head up quickly. “Did I? No, I’m still here, aren’t I?”

“So was it like a machete or something?” Adam asked softly.

With a sigh, Cook leaned back against the railing. “It was a Swiss Army knife. It opened in my sweatshirt pocket and fell out during class.” He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying not to remember that day, as he had planned everything to the T. After he had gotten caught, though, he had to backpedal quickly.

Beside him, Danny was practically giggling. “Really?” he asked between gasps of air, as he tumbled onto his side, laughing hysterically.

“Yes, really,” Cook replied, trying to ignore the others as they began to laugh as well. “It’s not that funny.” But he couldn’t help it as he felt the corners of his mouth tug upwards.

_ _ _

As the day was slowly beginning to wind down, Adam was in the process of climbing through the heating duct back to the janitor’s closet. The other four were sitting on the railing in the library.

“Danny?” Kris asked quietly, smiling at him. Danny looked up at him. “Well, you see, I was wondering if you were going to write that paper Cowell wants us to do, because if you think about it, it’s really a big waste for all of us to do it, cause we’re all going to say the same thing, and you’re so smart as it is, and I know you were going to do it-” Kris babbled before Danny stopped him, placing his hand over Kris’s mouth.

“You just don’t want to write your paper…is that it?” Kriss nodded, adding a muffled ‘yes’.

Pulling his mouth from Danny’s hand, he looked back at David and Cook, who turned from looking at each other, their cheeks turning pink. “We trust you completely.” The other two nodded in agreement.

Danny sighed, but was smiling. “Fine, you got me. I’ll do it.” Kris squealed, leaning over and hugging him. He then turned back to look at David and Cook, who had turned away from each other awkwardly.

Smiling to himself, he hopped off the railing. Danny was walking over to the table with papers, and that left Cook and David alone on the railing next to each other. “So…if you’re all set then, I’ve – uh – got somewhere I – uh – need to be,” Kris mumbled, backing up towards the opened heating duct.

Danny looked up at him, and once he realized what Kris was up to, he smiled and sent him a thumbs-up. “Good luck.” David and Cook sat on the railing alone, the only sound in the room being Cook’s Converses bouncing off the metal.

Unexpectedly, David jumped off the railing. “I can’t do this anymore!” he exclaimed. Cook raised an eyebrow, then watched as David grabbed his hand and pulled him down off of the railing.

“I’m sorry that I cheated you out of that prize, and I’m sorry that you lost, and I’m so sorry about everything that’s happening with your brother, but I’m not sorry that I’m here today, because if I wasn’t, well, I never would’ve met you…” David prattled off, before pausing and trailing off.

Cook chuckled, playing with David’s black hair. “You know, you’re kinda adorable when you get frantic.” David let out a breath, a smile growing on his face until he was practically beaming.

“But you're also kinda adorable every other time, too. And with reasoning like that, who am I to disagree?” Cook responded, cupping David’s chin and bringing their lips to touch. Squeaking at first touch, David tensed immediately, simply because it was something he had never experienced, before soon relaxing and falling into the touch.

Back in the janitor’s closet, Adam was sitting on the floor again, waiting for the day to end and for him to be able to just get the fuck out of this place. Before he could even react, though, a pair of sneakers hanging out of the heating duct turned into a heap on the floor that happened to be Kris.

Feeling something inside of him light up and expand again, Adam smiled, chuckling as he crawled out of his position and over to Kris, who was brushing himself off and trying to sit down.

“Are you lost or something?” Adam said, perhaps coming out a bit too sharply than he had wanted it too.

Kris simply stared at him, a knowing look on his face. He kept his eyes focused on Adam, never letting his gaze break away. Smiles broke out on both of their faces.

“Why are you here?” Adam whispered, moving even closer to Kris, until their hips were practically touching. He started to reach a shaking hand out to grab onto Kris’s arm, almost recoiling in the process. Before he could even make contact, Kris grabbed onto his hand firmly, and placed it back down on the floor. Slowly, he placed a hand onto Adam’s jaw, who immediately melted into it.

Practically climbing on top of Adam, Kris traced over his jaw line with his thumb. He leaned down and met Adam’s lips with his. It was chaste at first, Adam breaking away almost immediately. “Wait. Wait. Why are you doing this?” he asked, a nervous laugh filling his voice.

Kris frowned for a moment, but stopped. “Because I knew you wouldn’t.”

Adam knew that this went against everything he had made himself to be in school, and if he wanted to continue going on that way, he needed to stop this now. But when he looked up and saw Kris still sitting on top of his lap, smiling down at him, none of that mattered. He pulled Kris down for another kiss, never wanting to let him go.

_ _ _

When four o’clock finally came, an hour that none of them expected them to arrive, they made their ways out to the parking lot. Jamar was already wiaitng there for Danny, so as soon as he walked out, he beeped the horn.

Blushing, Danny said good-bye to the other and climbed in the front seat of Jamar’s car.

Cook and David huddled together, Cook pulling his own sweatshirt tighter around David. Snuggling into it, David smiled at Cook before leaning up and pressing a soft kiss against his lips. When they pulled apart, his cheeks were rosy.

Someone beeped, and immediately he knew it was his father. Before he could turn away, Cook pressed a kiss against his temple and whispered “Promise me you’ll tell him how you feel.” David smiled at him as Cook squeezed his arm, pushing him towards his father’s car.

As David climbs into his father’s car, his eyes still on Cook, he can feel his father watching both of them as well. Shutting the door, he turns to his dad. “What?”

“Who was that? Why do you have his jacket?” Jeff barked, making a grab for the sweatshirt.

David reeled away. “Don’t touch that. It’s mine.” As soon as David saw the look on his father’s face, he was initially scared. But as he turned back and saw Cook, he realized that no one, especially not his father, could scare him any more.

“So is this it? Is this where we leave off, because as you said, with Monday coming we won’t speak again?” Adam asked softly, holding one of Kris’s hands between his own.

Kris smiled, using his other hand to push some of Adam’s hair out of his face. “I said that was if I didn’t like you. That’s changed.”

Adam grinned, silently leaning down and kissing Kris. “Good. I want to see you on Monday, but that would be hard if we weren’t speaking.” Laughing, Kris saw his mother pull up into the parking lot. He squeezed onto Adam’s hand before pulling away. Adam watched as Kris climbed into his mom’s car and the two drove off, before he pinched himself to make sure that this was all actually happening. As Kris watched Adam begin to cross the football field, he smiled to himself, feeling like he was going to burst with excitement.


End file.
